D’Arline Lyrics
D’Arline, hope this finds you well
There’s so much I’m dying to tell, but, oh
That’s how it goes
Little things left unsaid
That I can’t keep in my head, but, oh
Just so you know
[Chorus: Joy Williams & John Paul White]
You’ll always be the only one
Always be the only one
[Verse 2: Joy Williams & John Paul White]
D’Arline, what do I do now?
Can’t live with you or without, but, oh
That’s how it goes
Oh, I could get over you
But please don’t ask me to
Just so you know
[Chorus: Joy Williams & John Paul White]
You’ll always be the only one
Even when you’re not
You’ll always be the only one
Even when you’re gone
You always said you want me to be happy
But happiness was having you here with me
You’ll always be the one that’s standing in my way
And that’s okay
[Chorus: Joy Williams & John Paul White]
Always be the only one
I’ll always be the only one
[Outro: Joy Williams & John Paul White]
D’Arline, if I only knew
Where to send this letter to
About
Joy Williams and John Paul White of The Civil Wars wrote this song in the studio behind Williams' Nashville house on a warm summer day with the windows and doors open. She explained that it “is a sweet lament, of loss and the belief that you’ll never be able to love anybody else again.”
The song was inspired by one of the Letters of Note, which Williams found on Twitter. She explained: “(I) was struck by the title of a letter written by a famous physicist named Richard Feynman: ‘I love my wife. My wife is dead.’ A little over a year after her death, he wrote his wife a love letter and sealed it. It was written in 1946, and wasn’t opened until after his death in 1988. He ended his note to his long-lost wife with ‘Please excuse my not mailing this – but I don’t know your new address.’”
When Williams and White were recording the song together, they could hear crows cawing in the background which Williams named Edgar, Allen and Poe. She said: “This recording and performance of the song is the first and only in existence, a work tape recorded simply on my iPhone.”
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 4.Dust to Dust
- 5.Eavesdrop
- 8.Tell Mama
- 9.Oh Henry
- 10.Disarm
- 11.Sacred Heart
- 12.D’Arline